Service mobility via a femtocell infrastructure

ABSTRACT

Aspects of a method and system for service mobility via a femtocell infrastructure are provided. In this regard, a mobile cellular enabled communication device may detect a femtocell operable to deliver content for one or more services to the mobile cellular enabled communication device, where the one or more services may be provided via a set-top-box communicatively coupled to the femtocell. The mobile cellular enabled communication device may communicate a user profile to the femtocell, wherein information in the profile may be utilized by the set-top-box to authenticate and/or authorize access to the services by the mobile cellular enabled communication device and thus the mobile cellular enabled communication device may receive the content from the set-top-box based on the authentication and/or authorization. The content may comprise voice, video, data, text and/or still images. The mobile cellular enabled communication device may detect the femtocell by receiving one or broadcast messages from the femtocell.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

Not Applicable

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communications. Morespecifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to a methodand system for service mobility via a femtocell infrastructure.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A femtocell may be placed in a customer's residence or in a smallbusiness environment, for example. Femtocells may be utilized foroff-loading macro radio network facilities, improving coverage locallyin a cost-effective manner, and/or implementing home-zone services toincrease revenue. Femtocells, like macro base stations, may be enabledto connect “standard” phones to a cellular provider's network by aphysical broadband connection which may be a digital subscriber line(DSL) connection and/or a cable connection, for example. Since thetraffic between a customer's premises femtocell equipment and theoperator's network may be traversing a public network, the traffic maybe prone to various risks.

Communication between femtocells and one or more cellular provider'snetworks enables operation in private and public areas. The capacity ofa femtocell may be adequate to address a typical family use modelsupporting two to four simultaneous voice calls and/or data, forexample.

An important characteristic of femtocells is their ability to controlaccess. In an open access scenario, any terminal and/or subscriber maybe allowed to communicate with the femtocell. Accordingly, the femtocellusage may somewhat resemble that of a macrocellular system. In a closedaccess scenario, the femtocell may serve a limited number of terminalsand/or subscribers that may be subscribed to a given cellular basestation. In this regard, the cellular base station may be perceived asbeing deployed for private usage.

A regulatory issue with regard to femtocells is that they use licensedfrequencies that radiate at a very low power in a controlledenvironment. It may be likely that they may not require a license from alocal authority, as macrocellular base stations do. An additionalregulatory issue may arise from the relationship between a femtocelloperator and a broadband services operator. One possible scenario mayinclude the broadband operator being unaware of the existence of afemtocell operator. Conversely, the broadband operator and femtocelloperator may have an agreement or they may be the same operator, forexample. Interference between femtocells may be an issue for femtocelldeployments based on wideband technologies such as WCDMA, for example,because initial operator deployments may use the same frequency for boththe femtocell and the macrocellular networks or due to the proximity offemtocell base stations in dense urban areas.

There are a plurality of design models for deployment and integration offemtocells, for example, an IP based Iu-b interface, a sessioninitiation protocol (SIP) based approach using an Iu/A interface, use ofunlicensed spectrum in a technique known as unlicensed mobile access(UMA) and/or use of IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) voice call continuity(VCC), for example.

In an Iu-b model based femtocell deployment approach, femtocells may befully integrated into the wireless carrier's network and may be treatedlike any other remote node in a network. The Iu-b protocol may have aplurality of responsibilities, such as the management of commonchannels, common resources, and radio links along with configurationmanagement, including cell configuration management, measurementhandling and control, time division duplex (TDD) synchronization, and/orerror reporting, for example. In Iu-b configurations, mobile devices mayaccess the network and its services via the Node B link, and femtocellsmay be treated as traditional base stations.

In a SIP based femtocell deployment approach, a SIP client, embedded inthe femtocell may be enabled to utilize SIP to communicate with theSIP-enabled mobile switching center (MSC). The MSC may perform theoperational translation between the IP SIP network and the traditionalmobile network, for example.

In a UMA based femtocell deployment approach, a generic access network(GAN) may offer an alternative way to access GSM and GPRS core networkservices over broadband. To support this approach, a UMA NetworkController (UNC) and protocols that guarantee secure transport ofsignaling and user traffic over IP may be utilized. The UNC may beenabled to interface into a core network via existing 3GPP interfaces,for example, to support core network integration of femtocell basedservices by delivering a standards based, scalable IP interface formobile core networks.

In an IMS VCC based femtocell deployment approach, VCC may provide for anetwork design that may extend an IMS network to include cellularcoverage and address the handoff process. The IMS VCC may be designed toprovide seamless call continuity between cellular networks and anynetwork that supports VoIP, for example. The VCC may also provide forinteroperability between GSM, UMTS, and CDMA cellular networks and anyIP capable wireless access network, for example. The IMS VCC may alsosupport the use of a single phone number or SIP identity and may offer abroad collection of functional advantages, for example, support formultiple markets and market segments, provisioning of enhanced IMSmultimedia services, including greater service personalization andcontrol, seamless handoff between circuit-switched and IMS networks,and/or access to services from any IP device.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention asset forth in the remainder of the present application with reference tothe drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method is provided for service mobility via a femtocellinfrastructure, substantially as shown in and/or described in connectionwith at least one of the figures, as set forth more completely in theclaims.

These and other advantages, aspects and novel features of the presentinvention, as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, willbe more fully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary cellular network, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary block diagram of anintegrated femtocell and set-top-box (IFSTB) device, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 1C illustrates an exemplary mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a communication system comprising cellularnetwork and a multimedia network comprising an integrated femtocell andset-top-box (IFSTB) device, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for accessingsubscription based content and/or services, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for accessingcontent for subscription based services utilizing a femtocell, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention may be found in a method and systemfor service mobility via a femtocell infrastructure. In variousembodiments of the invention, a mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice may detect a femtocell that is operable to deliver content forone or more services to the mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice, where the one or more services may be provided via a set-top-boxcommunicatively coupled to the femtocell. The mobile cellular enabledcommunication device may communicate a user profile to the femtocell,where information in the profile may be utilized by the set-top-box toauthenticate and/or authorize access to the services by the mobilecellular enabled communication device. Thus the mobile cellular enabledcommunication device may receive the content from the set-top-box basedon the authentication and/or authorization. The content may comprisevoice, video, data, text and/or still images. The mobile cellularenabled communication device may receive broadcast messages from thefemtocell. The broadcast messages may be utilized by the mobile cellularenabled communication device to detect the femtocell. The user profilemay be communicated from the mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice to the set-top-box via an in-band or out-of-band communicationchannel. The content may be decrypted based on information in the userprofile. The mobile cellular enabled communication device may consumethe content received from the set-top-box via the femtocell. The userprofile may comprise one or more of an identity of the mobile cellularenabled communication device, capabilities of the mobile cellularenabled communication device, preferred content, desirable content,active subscriptions, parental settings, and security information. Theset-top-box may format the content based on information in the userprofile.

FIG. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary cellular network, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1A,there is shown a cellular network 100 comprising sub-networks 101 a-101c. The exemplary sub-network 101 a may comprise a base station 102,femtocells 110 a-110 d, which are collectively referred to herein asfemtocells 110, a set-top-box 114, and mobile cellular enabledcommunication devices 112 a and 112 c, which are collectively referredto herein as mobile cellular enabled communication devices 112. Thefemtocells 110 may be installed in one or more commercial properties104, one or more residential properties 106, and/or one or moremulti-tenant properties 108.

The networks 122 a and 122 b, collectively referred to herein asnetworks 122, may comprise, for example, satellite networks, cablenetworks, DVB networks, the Internet, or similar local or wide areanetworks, which are capable of conveying data which may comprisemultimedia. The broadband connections 120 a-120 d, collectively referredto herein as connections 120, may comprise optical, wired, and/orwireless links.

The commercial properties 104 may comprise, for example, stores,restaurants, offices, and municipal buildings. The residentialproperties 106 may comprise, for example, single-family homes, homeoffices, and/or town-houses. Multi-tenant properties 108 may comprise,for example, residential and/or commercial tenants such as apartments,condos, hotels, and/or high rises. One or more of the commercialproperties 104, residential properties 106, and/or multi-tenantproperties 108 may comprise computing and/or multimedia networks whichmay comprise an integrated femtocell and set-top-box (IFSTB) device.

The base station 102 may be operable to communicate data wirelesslyutilizing one or more cellular standards such as IS-95, CDMA, GSM, TDMA,GPRS, EDGE, UMTS/NCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSDPA, extensions thereto, and/orvariants thereof. “Data,” as utilized herein, may refer to any analogand/or digital information including but not limited to voice, Internetdata, and/or multimedia content. Multimedia content may comprise audioand/or visual content comprising, video, still images, animated images,and/or textual content. The base station 102 may communicate with mobilecellular enabled communication devices such as the mobile cellularenabled communication devices 112. Exemplary cellular standardssupported by the base station 102 may be specified in the InternationalMobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) standard and/or developed bythe 3^(rd) generation partnership project (3GPP) and/or the 3^(rd)generation partnership project 2 (3GPP2). The base station 102 maycommunicate data amongst the various components of the sub-network 101a. Additionally, data communicated to and/or from the base station 102may be communicated to sub-network 101 b, sub-network 101 c, and/or toone or more other networks (not shown) via one or more backhaul links103. In this manner, data communicated to and/or from the base station102 may be communicated to and/or from, other portions of the network100 and/or other networks. Exemplary networks with which data may becommunicated may comprise public switched telephone networks (PSTN)and/or IP networks such as the Internet or an intranet.

The femtocells 110 may each comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be operable to communicate wirelessly utilizing one ormore cellular standards such as IS-95, CDMA, GSM, TDMA, GPRS, EDGE,UMTS/WCDMA, TD-SCDMA, HSDPA, extensions thereto, and/or variantsthereof. In this regard, the femtocells 110 may each communicate withmobile cellular enabled communication devices such as the mobilecellular enabled communication devices 112. Exemplary cellular standardssupported by the femtocells 110 may be specified in the InternationalMobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000) standard and/or developed bythe 3^(rd) generation partnership project (3GPP) and/or the 3^(rd)generation partnership project 2 (3GPP2). The femtocells 110 may eachcomprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be operable tocommunicate over a broadband and/or IP based network.

The set-top-box 114 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may be operable to receive, process, and output content for one ormore services, such as cable television, satellite television, onInternet access. The set-top-box 114 may be communicatively coupled to afemtocell via, for example, a USB or IEEE 1394 link. In variousembodiments of the invention, the set-top-box functionality and thefemtocell functionality may be integrated into a signal device, In thisregard, the integrated device may share components comprising RFtransmit and/or receive components, baseband processing function, clockand/or timing generation and/or processing functions, and/or managementand/or control functions. The set-top-box may be communicatively coupledto one or more multimedia devices such as a display and speakers via,for example, a HDMI link.

In various embodiments of the invention, the set-top-box functionalitymay be integrated into the one or more of the femtocells 110, or thefemtocells 110, or equivalent functionality, may be integrated into aset-top-box, such as the set-top-box 114. In some embodiments of theinvention, a femtocell, or equivalent functionality, and a set-top-box,or equivalent functionality, may be integrated into a single device. Insome embodiments of the invention, a femtocell and a set-top-box mayreside in physically separate devices that may be communicativelycoupled via a wired or wireless connection such as USB, IEEE 1394, HDMI,Ethernet, Bluetooth, or Wi-Fi.

Regardless of the manner in which a femtocell and set-top-box areintegrated and/or communicatively coupled, various embodiments of theinvention are operable to enable cellular communication between afemtocell and a mobile cellular communication device to access andutilize subscription based content and/or services via the set-top-box.

The mobile cellular enabled communication devices 112 may each comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be operable tocommunicate utilizing one or more cellular standards. In this regard,the mobile cellular enabled communication devices 112 may each beoperable to transmit and/or receive data via the cellular network 100.Exemplary mobile cellular enabled communication devices may compriselaptop computers, mobile phones, and personal media players. The mobilecellular enabled communication devices 112 may be enabled to consumemultimedia content and may additionally be enabled run a web browser orother applications for providing Internet services to a user of one ofthe mobile cellular enabled communication devices 112.

In operation, subscription based content for subscription based servicesmay be communicated to, for example, mobile cellular enabledcommunication device 112 c and/or one or more other multimedia and/orcomputing devices (not shown in FIG. 1A) based on a user profilecommunicated from the mobile cellular enabled communication device 112 cto the femtocell 110 b. The user profile may be utilized to authenticatethe mobile cellular enabled communication device 112 c or its user andmay be utilized to determine content or services which may be accessibleby the mobile cellular enabled communication device. In one exemplaryembodiment of the invention, a user profile associated with the mobilecellular enabled communication device 112 c may be communicated to thefemtocell 110 b via a cellular link. In this regard, the user profilemay be communicated in-band with content that the user profile enablesaccessing. In another exemplary embodiment of the invention, a userprofile associated with the mobile cellular enabled communication device112 c may be communicated to the femtocell 110 b via, for example, aBluetooth or USB link. In this regard, the user profile may becommunicated out-of-band with content that the user profile enablesaccessing.

After receiving a user profile from the mobile cellular enabledcommunication device 112 c, the femtocell 110 b or femtocellfunctionality may communicate the received user profile to theset-top-box 114 or other device having set-top box functionality. Insome embodiments of the invention, the user profile may be communicatedto the set-top-box in-band with content being communicated from theset-top-box to the femtocell 110 b. In some embodiments of theinvention, the user profile may be communicated to the set-top-boxout-of-band with content being communicated from the set-top-box to thefemtocell 110 b.

The set-top-box 114, or other device having set-top box functionality,may utilize the user profile received from the femtocell 110 b to accesscontent for subscribed-to services. Additionally, the set-top-box mayutilize the user profile received from the femtocell to determine how toprocess and/or format the received content and where and/or how toconvey the content. In this regard, the set-top-box may convey thecontent to the femtocell 110 b, which may in turn communicate thecontent or services to other femtocells, and/or the mobile cellularenabled communication device 112 c. Alternatively and/or additionally,the set-top-box may communicate the content to other multimedia ornetwork devices via one or more connections such as USB, HDMI, Ethernet,or Bluetooth, as shown in FIG. 2.

In various embodiments of the invention, because a user profile isassociated with a mobile cellular enabled communication device, contentfor services to which the mobile cellular enabled communication deviceand/or its user are subscribed to may be accessed in any location wherethere is a compatible femtocell.

FIG. 1B is a diagram illustrating an exemplary block diagram of anintegrated femtocell and set-top-box (IFSTB) device, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1B the IFSTB 150 maycomprise an antenna 152, a cellular transmitter and/or receiver (Tx/Rx)154, a broadband transmitter and/or receiver (Tx/Rx) 156, a processor158, a memory 160, a digital signal processor (DSP) 162, an audio and/orvideo multimedia interface 164 and an input and/or output (I/O)interface 166.

The antenna 152 may be suitable for transmitting and/or receivingcellular signals. Although a single antenna is illustrated, theinvention is not so limited. In this regard, the cellular Tx/Rx 154 mayutilize a common antenna for transmission and reception, may utilizedifferent antennas for transmission and reception, and/or may utilize aplurality of antennas for transmission and/or reception.

The cellular Tx/Rx 154 may comprise suitable logic circuitry and/or codethat may be operable to transmit and/or receive data utilizing one ormore cellular standards. The cellular Tx/Rx 154 may be operable toperform amplification, down-conversion, filtering, demodulation, andanalog to digital conversion of received cellular signals. The cellularTx/Rx 154 may be operable to perform amplification, up-conversion,filtering, modulation, and digital to analog conversion of transmittedcellular signals. Exemplary cellular standards supported by the IFSTB150 may be specified in the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000(IMT-2000) standard and/or developed by the 3^(rd) generationpartnership project (3GPP) and/or the 3^(rd) generation partnershipproject 2 (3GPP2).

The broadband Tx/Rx 156 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be operable to transmit data in adherence to one or morebroadband standards. The broadband Tx/Rx 156 may be operable to performamplification, down-conversion, filtering, demodulation, and analog todigital conversion of received signals. The broadband Tx/Rx 156 may beoperable to perform amplification, up-conversion, filtering, modulation,and digital to analog conversion of transmitted signals. The broadbandTx/Rx 156 may transmit and/or receive data over the broadband connection157 which may comprise, for example, a T1/E1 line, optical fiber (e.g.,xPON), DSL, cable television infrastructure, satellite broadbandinternet connection, satellite television infrastructure, and/orEthernet.

The processor 158 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or codethat may enable processing data and/or controlling operations of theIFSTB 150. In this regard, the processor 158 may be enabled to providecontrol signals to the various other blocks comprising the IFSTB 150.The processor 158 may also control transfers of data between variousportions of the IFSTB 150. Additionally, the processor 158 may enableexecution of applications programs and/or code. In various embodimentsof the invention, the applications, programs, and/or code may enable,for example, parsing, transcoding, or otherwise processing data. Invarious embodiments of the invention, the applications, programs, and/orcode may enable, for example, configuring or controlling operation ofthe cellular Tx/Rx 154, the broadband Tx/Rx 156, the DSP 162, and/or thememory 160.

The memory 160 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code thatmay enable storage or programming of information that includesparameters and/or code that may effectuate the operation of the IFSTB150. The parameters may comprise configuration data and the code maycomprise operational code such as software and/or firmware, but theinformation need not be limited in this regard. Moreover, the parametersmay include adaptive filter and/or block coefficients.

The DSP 162 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/or code operableto perform computationally intensive processing of data. In variousembodiments of the invention, the DSP 162 may encode, decode, transcode,modulate, demodulate, encrypt, decrypt, scramble, descramble, and/orotherwise process data. In various embodiments of the invention, the DSP162 may be enabled adjust a modulation scheme, error coding scheme,and/or data rates of transmitted cellular signals data.

The multimedia interface 164 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,and/or code that may be operable to communicate multimedia content toone or more multimedia devices which may consume the multimedia content.In this regard, multimedia content received via one or more of thecellular Tx/Rx 154, the broadband Tx/Rx 156, and/or the I/O interface166 may be output to one or more multimedia devices. The multimediainterface 164 may output analog and/or digital multimedia signals suchas digital audio, analog audio, composite video, analog RGB video,S-Video, component video, DVI, HDMI, and/or DisplayPort. The multimediainterface 164 may be operable to up-convert, filter, modulate, and/oramplify multimedia signals. Accordingly, the multimedia connection(s)165 may comprise optical, wired and/or wireless links suitable forconveying one or more of the multimedia standards supported by themultimedia interface 164.

The I/O interface 166 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be operable to exchange information in accordance with oneor more communication standards. Exemplary communication standardssupported by the I/O interface 166 may comprise USB, IEEE 1394, Wi-Fi,Wi-Max, infrared (IR), and/or Bluetooth. Accordingly, the I/Oconnection(s) 167 may comprise one or more optical, wired and/orwireless links suitable for conveying one or more of the communicationstandards supported by the I/O interface 166.

In operation, the IFSTB 150 may receive a user profile from a mobilecellular enabled communication device via the cellular Tx/Rx 154. Theuser profile may, for example, comprise information for decryptingsubscription based content and/or services which may be received via thecellular Tx/Rx 154 and/or the broadband Tx/Rx 156. In an exemplaryembodiment of the invention, encrypted content for subscription basedservices may be received via the broadband Tx/Rx 156, conveyed to theDSP 162, and the DSP 162 may decrypt the content and/or servicesutilizing the user profile information. Subsequently, the decryptedcontent may be conveyed to at least one of the mobile cellular enabledcommunication devices, which may be associated with the user profile viathe cellular Tx/Rx 154. Additionally and/or alternatively, the decryptedcontent may be communicated to one or more multimedia devices via themultimedia interface 164. Additionally and/or alternatively, thedecrypted content may be communicated to one or more other devices suchas portable media players or computers via the I/O interface 166. Invarious embodiments of the invention, the IFSTB 150 may transcode thesubscription based content and/or services between one or more of:formats suitable for transmission utilizing audio/video standards suchas HDMI, DisplayPort, DVI, or raw audio/video; formats suitable fortransmission over a broadband network such as an Ethernet network or aT1/E1 line; and formats suitable for transmission utilizing cellularstandards such as IS-95, CDMA2000, GSM, UMTS, TD-SCDMA.

FIG. 1C illustrates an exemplary mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 1C, the mobile cellular enabled communication device 180 maycomprise an antenna 182, cellular Tx/Rx 184, a processor 188, a memory190, a DSP 192, a display 183, user controls 185, a speaker 187, and amicrophone 189.

The antenna 182 may be similar to the antenna 152 described with respectto FIG. 1B. The cellular Tx/Rx 184 may be similar to the cellular Tx/Rx154 described with respect to FIG. 1B. The processor 188 may be similarto the processor 158 described with respect to FIG. 1B. The memory 190may be similar to the memory 160 described with respect to FIG. 1B. TheDSP 192 may be similar to the DSP 162 described with respect to FIG. 1B.

The display 183 may be operable to provide visual information to a userof the cellular enabled communication device 180. In various embodimentsof the invention, a graphical user interface may be presented via thedisplay 183. In various embodiments of the invention, a visual mediacontent such as video, images, and text may be presented via the display183.

The user controls 185 may be operable to enable user interaction withthe user interface of the cellular enabled communication device 180 tocontrol services and/or content handled by the cellular enabledcommunication device 180. The user controls 185 may comprise, forexample, a keypad, a keyboard, a roller ball, a multidirectional button,a scroll wheels, and/or a touch screen.

The speaker 187 may be operable to present audio information to a user.The speaker may present voice from a phone call and/or music orringtones played back by the cellular enabled communication device.

The microphone 189 may be operable to convert acoustic signals intoelectronic signals. The microphone may enable a user to participate in aphone call and/or interact with the cellular enabled communicationdevice via oral input.

In operation, the mobile cellular enabled communication device 180 maybe operable to detect femtocells that are operable to deliver contentfor one or more services to the mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice 180. The mobile cellular enabled communication device 180 maycommunicate a profile associated with it to a set-top-box via a detectedfemtocell. The mobile cellular enabled communication device 180 mayreceive the content based on authentication and/or authorizationinformation in the user profile. One or more user profiles associatedwith the cellular enabled communication device may be created, editedand/or otherwise managed via by interacting with user interface of themobile cellular enabled communication devices 180 via the controls 185.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of a communication system comprising cellularnetwork and a multimedia network comprising an integrated femtocell andset-top-box (IFSTB) device, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 2, the communication system 210 maycomprise a multimedia network 200, a broadband network 230, and acellular network 220.

The multimedia network 200 may comprise a mobile cellular enabledcommunication device 202, portable device 226, a IFSTB device 204,client set-top-boxes (STBs) 208 a and 208 b, which are collectivelyreferred to herein as client STBs 208, and multimedia devices 210 a, 210b, and 210 c, which are collectively referred to herein as multimediadevices 210. The IFSTB device 204 may be communicatively coupled, viabroadband connection 205, to a network 230, which may in turn becommunicatively coupled, via backhaul connection 221, to a cellularnetwork 220. The IFSTB device 204 may be communicatively coupled to oneor more client set-top-boxes (STBs) 208 via multimedia connections 214which may be similar to or the same as the multimedia connections 165described with respect to FIG. 1B. The IFSTB device 204 may becommunicatively coupled to one or more multimedia devices 210 viamultimedia connections 216. The IFSTB device 204 may be communicativelycoupled to one or more portable devices 226 via I/O connections 227which may be similar to or the same as the I/O connection 167 describedwith respect to FIG. 1B.

The cellular network 220 may be similar to or the same as the cellularnetwork 100 described with respect to FIG. 1A.

The portable device 226 may comprise, for example, a mobile cellularenabled communication device, a laptop computer, a personal dataassistant, or a personal media player. The connection 227 to theportable device 226 may comprise, for example, an Ethernet, USB, or IEEE1394 connection.

The broadband network 230 may comprise, for example, a satellitenetwork, cable network, DVB network, the Internet or other IP basednetwork, or similar local or wide area networks, which are capable ofconveying data which may comprise multimedia.

The backhaul connection 221 may convey data between the cellular network220 and the broadband network 230. In this regard, the backhaulconnection 221 may comprise one or more wired and/or wireless backhaullinks which communicatively couple the base station 224 to the broadbandnetwork 230.

The broadband connection 205 may comprise one or more high bandwidthconnections that may be enabled to convey data. Exemplary broadbandconnections may comprise an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriberline (DSL), a T1/E1 line, a cable television infrastructure, a satellitetelevision infrastructure, and/or a satellite broadband Internetconnection. The broadband connection 205 may comprise one or moreoptical, wired and/or wireless links.

The mobile cellular enabled communication device 202 may be similar toor the same as the mobile cellular enabled communication devices 112described with respect to FIG. 1A. In various embodiments of theinvention, the mobile cellular enabled communication device 202 maystore and/or be associated with a user profile. The user profile maycomprise information such as active subscriptions, parental settings,and/or personal preferences. Also, the user profile may comprisesecurity information such as certificates, passwords, and/or encryptionkeys. In this regard, permissions, features, and/or functionality of themobile cellular enabled communication device 202 may be based on itsuser profile and security information associated with that user profilemay enable accessing content for subscription based services. The userprofile may be delivered to and/or configured on a mobile cellularenabled communication device, such as the devices 202 and 222, viacellular communications with, for example, a base station such as thebase station 224.

In an exemplary embodiment of the invention, an electronic programmingguide (EPG) may be customized and delivered to a mobile cellular enabledcommunication device based on a user profile associated with that mobilecellular enabled communication device. For example, channels, stations,and/or content in the EPG communicated to a mobile cellular enabledcommunication device may be customized to the subscriptions of that userprofile.

The integrated femtocell and set-top-box (IFSTB) device 204 may comprisesuitable logic, circuitry, and/or code that may be operable to receivedata, transcode and/or otherwise process the received data, and transmitthe data. The IFSTB 204 may be operable to transmit and/or receive datavia cellular communication. The IFSTB 204 may be operable to transmitand/or receive data via the broadband connection 205. In someembodiments of the invention, IFSTB 204 may be operable to outputmultimedia content, extracted from received data, to one or moremultimedia devices 210. In some embodiments of the invention, IFSTB 204may be operable to forward received data to one or more client STBs 208.

In various embodiments of the invention, the permissions, features,and/or functionality of the IFSTB 204, and thus services (e.g., Internetaccess) and/or multimedia content available to the network 200, may beconfigurable and may be determined based on one or more user profilescommunicated via a cellular link between from a mobile cellular enabledcommunication device to the IFSTB 204. Accordingly, a first set ofservices and/or multimedia content may be available to the network 200for a first user profile and a second set of services and/or multimediacontent may be available for a second user profile. The first userprofile may be similar to or different from the second user profile. Insome instances, multiple user profiles may be associated with a mobilecellular enabled communication device, and which profile is utilized maybe determined based on information entered by a user of the mobilecellular enabled communication device. In other instances, a single userprofile may be associated with multiple mobile cellular enabledcommunication devices. In some embodiments of the invention, valid userprofiles may be persistent on the IFSTB 204 and may only need to beperiodically updated via cellular communications with theircorresponding mobile cellular enabled communication devices. In otherembodiments of the invention, user profile may only be valid while anassociated or particular mobile cellular enabled communication device iswithin cellular communication range of the IFSTB 204.

The client STBs 208 may each comprise suitable logic, circuitry, and/orcode that may be operable to receive data, extract multimedia contentfrom the received data, process the multimedia content, and output themultimedia content to one or more multimedia devices 210. In someembodiments of the invention, the permissions, features, and/orfunctionality of the client STBs 208 may be configurable. In thismanner, multimedia content that may be consumed by the client STBs 208may be determined based on a user profile associated with a mobilecellular enabled communication device in communication with the IFSTB204. In some embodiments of the invention, the client STBs 208 may bephysically the same as the IFSTB 204 but may be configured differentlythan the IFSTB 204 based, at least in part, on a user profile associatedwith a mobile cellular enabled communication device in communicationwith the IFSTB 204. In some embodiments of the invention, one or more ofthe client STBs may comprise a cellular transceiver or may becommunicatively coupled to a mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice. For example, the may be coupled via a USB or IEEE 1394connection to a cellular phone or broadband access card.

The multimedia devices 210 may comprise, for example, televisions,displays, stereo systems, and/or recording and/or playback devices. Themultimedia devices 210 may be enabled to receive audio and/or videocontent and present the content to a user.

In operation, the mobile cellular enabled communication device 202 mayenter cellular communication range of the IFSTB 204. In some embodimentsof the invention, the mobile cellular enabled communication device 202may detect the IFSTB 204 by transmitting a page signal and listening fora response from any nearby femtocells and/or IFSTBs. The response fromthe IFSTB 204 may indicate content and/or services which the IFSTB 204may be operable to provide. In some embodiments of the invention, themobile cellular enabled communication device 202 may detect the IFSTB204 by listening for a broadcast signal. Messages broadcast by the IFSTB204 may indicate the content and/or services which the IFSTB 204 may beoperable to provide.

After detecting the IFSTB 204, the mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice 202 may communicate its user profile to the IFSTB 204 viacellular communications. In this manner, the user profile may bedelivered to and/or verified by the network 200 via a communicationchannel that is out-of-band with the broadband connection 205.Accordingly, security of the content and/or services may be improvedover conventional multimedia networks since the user profile may bedelivered or handled separate from the content and/or services that theuser profile controls.

Upon receipt and/or verification of the user profile by the IFSTB 204,the IFSTB 204 and/or the client STBs 208 may be configured based on theuser profile. Content for subscription based services may be availableto the client STBs 208, the multimedia devices 210, and/or the mobilecellular enabled communication device 202. In this regard, in someembodiments of the invention, the user profile may be communicated to asource of the subscription based services and the source may transmitcontent for subscribed-to services to the IFSTB 204 based on requestfrom an authorized client. In other embodiments of the invention, asource of subscription based content and/or services encrypted by asource prior to transmission to the IFSTB 204. Accordingly, the userprofile may comprise necessary security information for decryptingcontent for subscribed-to services.

In various embodiments of the invention, information in a user profilemay be utilized to determine permissions and thus enable access torestricted content and/or services. Accordingly, because user profilesmay be associated with mobile cellular enabled communication devices,services and/or content available in the network 200 may depend onmobile cellular enabled communication devices within cellularcommunication range of the IFSTB 204.

In some embodiments of the invention, the network 200 may be controlledremotely via data received over the broadband network 230. For example,a user of the mobile cellular enabled communication device 222 mayrequest the IFSTB 204 to record subscribed-to content when the user isaway from the network 200. In this regard, the cellular communicationdevice 222 may send the request to the IFSTB 204 via the base station224, the backhaul connection 221, the broadband network 230, and thebroadband connection 205. In some embodiments of the invention, therecording may be performed because the mobile cellular enabledcommunication device 222 may have previously been in cellularcommunication range of the IFSTB 204 and a user profile associated withthe mobile cellular enabled communication device 222 may still be valid.In other embodiments of the invention, the recording may be performedconditionally. For example, the IFSTB 204 or one of the client STBs 208may record the show, but the show may not be viewable until the mobilecellular enabled communication device 222 comes within range of theIFSTB 204 and the pertinent user profile information may be validated.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for accessingsubscription based content and/or services, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3, the exemplary stepsmay begin with step 302 when a user profile associated with a mobilecellular enabled communication device may be configured based on,subscriptions of a user of the mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice. The user profile may be configured via cellular communicationswith a cellular network. In this manner, the user profile, including anyrelated security information, may be configured out-of-band with anylocal area networks to which the user profile may apply. Subsequent tostep 302, the exemplary steps may advance to step 304.

In step 304 a mobile cellular enabled communication device may enter acellular coverage area of an IFSTB. The IFSTB may be part of amultimedia network which may provide subscription based services.Subsequent to step 304, the exemplary steps may advance to step 306.

In step 306, the user profile configured in step 302 may be communicatedto and/or verified with the IFSTB utilizing cellular communications. Inthis regard, the user profile associated with the mobile cellularenabled communication device and/or its user may enable decryptingand/or otherwise accessing content for services that the mobile cellularenabled communication device or its user is subscribed to. Subsequent tostep 306, the exemplary steps may advance to step 308.

In step 308, the IFSTB and/or other devices communicatively coupled tothe IFSTB may be configured based on the user profile. For example,security keys may be set to enable decryption of subscription basedservice and/or content. Subsequent to step 236, the exemplary steps mayadvance to step 310.

In step 310, the network, the IFSTB acting as a service and/ormultimedia gateway may begin processing and distributing the content forthe subscription based services. The content may be output to, forexample, the mobile cellular enabled communication device, a computingdevice, and/or a multimedia device.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart illustrating exemplary steps for accessingcontent for subscription based services utilizing a femtocell, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 4, theexemplary steps may begin with step 402 when a mobile cellular enabledcommunication device 402 may detect a femtocell that may becommunicatively coupled to a set-top-box. Subsequent to step 402, theexemplary steps may advance to step 404.

In step 404, the mobile cellular enabled communication device maycommunicate a user profile to the femtocell. In this regard, the userprofile may be communicated in-band or out-of-band with other cellularcommunications between the mobile cellular enabled communication device.Out-of-band communications may be communications on other cellularfrequencies or channels and/or via non-cellular wired or wireless links.Subsequent to step 404, the exemplary steps may advance to step 406.

In step 406, the femtocell may communicate the user profile received instep 404 to a set-top-box to which it is communicatively coupled. Insome exemplary embodiments of the invention, the femtocell andset-top-box may be communicatively coupled via a multimedia link such asHDMI and/or an I/O link such as USB or IEEE 1394. In this regard, theuser profile may be communicated at the same time and/or over a commonlink with content, i.e. it may be communicated in-band with the content.Alternatively, the user profile may be communicated at different timesand/or over different links than the content, that is, it may becommunicated out-of-band with the content. Subsequent to step 406, theexemplary steps may advance to step 408.

In step 408, the set-top-box may decrypt or otherwise enable access tocontent for subscription based services, where the decryption or accessis enabled based on information in the user profile. In this manner,information in the user profile may authenticate the mobile cellularenabled communication device as being subscribed to one or moreservices. Subsequent to step 408, the exemplary steps may advance tostep 410.

In step 410, the set-top-box may format or otherwise process the contentand output the content. The set-top-box may output the content to thefemtocell. Additionally, the set-top-box may output the content via oneor more multimedia interfaces to multimedia equipment such as a displayand/or speakers. Subsequent to step 410, the exemplary steps may advanceto step 412.

In step 412, the femtocell may communicate the content to the mobilecellular enabled communication device.

Aspects of a method and system for service mobility via a femtocellinfrastructure are provided. In an exemplary embodiment of theinvention, a mobile cellular enabled communication device 112 c maydetect a femtocell 110 b that is operable to deliver content for one ormore services to the mobile cellular enabled communication device 112 c,where the one or more services may be provided via a set-top-box 114,which may be communicatively coupled to the femtocell 110 b. The mobilecellular enabled communication device 112 c may communicate a userprofile to the femtocell 110 b, where information in the profile may beutilized by the set-top-box 114 to authenticate and/or authorize accessto the services by the mobile cellular enabled communication device 112c. Thus, the mobile cellular enabled communication device 112 c mayreceive the content from the set-top-box 114 based on the authenticationand/or authorization. The content may comprise voice, video, data, textand/or still images. The mobile cellular enabled communication device112 c may receive broadcast messages from the femtocell. The broadcastmessages may be utilized by the mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice 112 c to detect the femtocell 110 b. The user profile may becommunicated from the mobile cellular enabled communication device 112 cto the set-top-box 114 via an in-band or out-of-band communicationchannel. The content may be decrypted based on information in the userprofile. The mobile cellular enabled communication device may consumethe content received from the set-top-box 114 via the femtocell 110 b.The user profile may comprise one or more of: an identity of the mobilecellular enabled communication device 112 c, capabilities of the mobilecellular enabled communication device 112 c, preferred content,desirable content, active subscriptions, parental settings, and securityinformation. The set-top-box 114 may format the content based oninformation in the user profile.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a machine and/orcomputer readable storage and/or medium, having stored thereon, amachine code and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for servicemobility via a femtocell infrastructure.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system, or in a distributed fashion where different elementsare spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

1. A method for communication, the method comprising: detecting by amobile cellular enabled communication device, a femtocell operable todeliver content for one or more services to said mobile cellular enabledcommunication device, wherein said one or more services is provided viaa set-top-box communicatively coupled to said femtocell; communicating aprofile associated with said mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice from said mobile cellular enabled communication device to saidset-top-box via said detected femtocell, wherein information in saidassociated profile is utilized by said set-top-box to authenticateand/or authorize access to said one or more services by said mobilecellular enabled communication device; and receiving by said mobilecellular enabled communication device, said content associated with oneor more services from said set-top-box via said femtocell based on saidauthentication and/or said authorization.
 2. The method according toclaim 1, wherein said content comprises voice, video, data, text and/orstill images.
 3. The method according to claim 1, comprising receivingone or more broadcast messages from said femtocell.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 3, comprising detecting said femtocell operable todeliver said content for said one or more services to said mobilecellular enabled communication device based on said received broadcastmessages.
 5. The method according to claim 1, comprising communicatingsaid profile associated with said mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice from said mobile cellular enabled communication device to saidset-top-box via said detected femtocell via an in-band communicationchannel.
 6. The method according to claim 1, comprising communicatingsaid profile associated with said mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice from said mobile cellular enabled communication device to saidset-top-box via said detected femtocell via an out-of-band communicationchannel.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said content forone or more services that is received from said set-top-box via saidfemtocell based on said authentication and/or said authorization isencrypted.
 8. The method according to claim 1, comprising decryptingsaid encrypted content that is received from said set-top box.
 9. Themethod according to claim 1, comprising consuming said decryptedcontent, which is received from aid set-top box via said femtocell, bysaid mobile cellular enabled communication device.
 10. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein said profile comprises one or more of: anidentity of said mobile cellular enabled communication device,capabilities of said mobile cellular enabled communication device,preferred content, desirable content, active subscriptions, parentalsettings, and security information.
 11. The method according to claim 1,wherein said set-top-box formats said received content for said one ormore services based on said information in said profile associated withsaid cellular enabled communication device.
 12. A system for networking,the system comprising: one or more circuits for use in a mobile cellularenabled communication device, said one or more circuits operable to:detect a femtocell operable to deliver content for one or more servicesto said mobile cellular enabled communication device, wherein said oneor more services is provided via a set-top-box communicatively coupledto said femtocell; communicate a profile associated with said mobilecellular enabled communication device from said mobile cellular enabledcommunication device to said set-top-box via said detected femtocell,wherein information in said associated profile is utilized by saidset-top-box to authenticate and/or authorize access to said one or moreservices by said mobile cellular enabled communication device; andreceive said content associated with one or more services from saidset-top-box via said femtocell based on said authentication and/or saidauthorization.
 13. The system according to claim 12, wherein saidcontent comprises voice, video, data, text and/or still images.
 14. Thesystem according to claim 12, wherein said one or more circuits receiveone or more broadcast messages from said femtocell.
 15. The systemaccording to claim 14, wherein said one or more circuits detect saidfemtocell operable to deliver said content for said one or more servicesto said mobile cellular enabled communication device based on saidreceived broadcast messages.
 16. The system according to claim 12,wherein said one or more circuits communicate said profile associatedwith said mobile cellular enabled communication device from said mobilecellular enabled communication device to said set-top-box via saiddetected femtocell via an in-band communication channel.
 17. The systemaccording to claim 12, wherein said one or more circuits communicatesaid profile associated with said mobile cellular enabled communicationdevice from said mobile cellular enabled communication device to saidset-top-box via said detected femtocell via an out-of-band communicationchannel.
 18. The system according to claim 12, wherein said content forone or more services that is received from said set-top-box via saidfemtocell based on said authentication and/or said authorization isencrypted.
 19. The system according to claim 12, wherein said one ormore circuits decrypt said encrypted content that is received from saidset-top box.
 20. The system according to claim 12, wherein said one ormore circuits consume said decrypted content, which is received from aidset-top box via said femtocell, by said mobile cellular enabledcommunication device.
 21. The system according to claim 12, wherein saidprofile comprises one or more of: an identity of said mobile cellularenabled communication device, capabilities of said mobile cellularenabled communication device, preferred content, desirable content,active subscriptions, parental settings, and security information. 22.The system according to claim 12, wherein said set-top-box formats saidreceived content for said one or more services based on said informationin said profile associated with said cellular enabled communicationdevice.